Spillover
by Asviloka
Summary: KotOR, oneshot. As a result of recent events, the Leviathan has a gizka problem.


"Admiral Kareth."

Saul Kareth winced. It always meant trouble when Lord Malak used that tone of voice. He straightened his jacket and cleared his throat, then turned and activated the holotable.

"Yes, Lord Malak?" he said, strictly professional.

"Is there any particular reason that my shuttle is swarming with gizka?" The Dark Lord's voice was irate, even through the metallic echoes of his artifical jaw.

"Yes, Lord Malak," Saul said, clearing his throat. "It seems that while we were occupied with. . . other matters. . . we tractored in a ship that was infested. The creatures escaped and propagated with alarming rapidity."

"Are you suggesting that I cannot now dock with my own flagship without spreading a plague of gizka to it?"

"There are methods of controlling them available, Lord Malak," Saul said, feeling uncomfortable. "Poison, I've been told, can be purchased at most starship trading posts. The creatures are a known irritant to starships everywhere, they are not an insurmountable problem."

"I have crushed three dozen of the creatures on the trip so far," Malak said. "And still more crawl out from the smallest spaces, as though they enjoy taunting me with my inability to eradicate them."

"They do breed at a remarkable rate," Saul said. He neglected to mention the dozen little creatures hopping merrily about his control room at that moment. He'd stopped trying to kill them, stopped avoiding them. If he stepped on one, it was just another squishy lump on the floor, he wasn't thrown off balance any longer.

Ever since Revan's escape, the _Leviathan_ had become increasingly infested. And now, it seemed, the creatures had discovered Lord Malak's shuttle.

"My apologies, Lord Malak. I will have our troops locate some gizka poison at the next planet we arrive. May I suggest that in the meantime you return your shuttle to the _Leviathan_ and remain here so the creatures have no time to infest your own ship?"

"Your advice is not needed, Admiral Kareth." Malak's tone was sharp, and Saul bowed his understanding.

"I'm sorry, Lord Malak. I did not mean to imply—"

"Send your men to my ship as soon as you have located a sufficient supply of poison," the Dark Lord said. "And find Revan!"

The holotable went dark, Malak's irate face replaced with the familiar view of the bridge.

Saul supposed it was a small price to pay. He'd been on the brink of death, nearly killed in the escape. Were it not for Lord Malak's intervention, he'd have been a dead man.

Gizka were not so large a problem when weighed against one's own death.

He limped to his command chair and sat down, watching the crew scurry about. _Leviathan_ was barely functional, a skeleton crew barely able to keep the massive interdictor flying. Revan's escape had done much more damage than merely setting loose an infestation of pests.

A gizka hopped nearer, letting out its singularly irritating call, and Saul gave it a hefty kick with his good leg. With a squeal, it flew across the room and smacked into the wall. It slid down, then resumed hopping about as though nothing had happened.

Saul sighed. It would be weeks at best before they reached an inhabited world. _Leviathan_ couldn't make hyperspace jumps of more than a very short distance, and the constant dropping out made recalculations a huge pain.

Another gizka gave a great leap and landed on Saul's lap. It looked up at him with big eyes, chirped questioningly.

He flicked it off toward the empty seats once occupied by his perfectly sufficient crew. It bounced on landing, ended on its back. It croaked once, then wriggled and flopped back into its normal position.

He supposed he could get used to it. The creatures weren't more than irritating. They didn't seem to eat anything, they starved to death within days even if they weren't killed outright. How they managed to reproduce in so short a time remained a complete mystery, and one Saul didn't care to look into very far.

He really should retire one of these days. All this rushing about fighting for the Sith cause was getting old. How many betrayals was too many? When would his master decide not to trust him any longer, decide to have him removed in case his next betrayal was against Malak?

He never would betray the Dark Lord, of course, but Sith were not renowned for their level-headed analysis skills.

Saul Kareth tapped the com, issued orders for anyone heading planetside next stop to pick up as much gizka poison as they could carry, then leaned back in his seat. Another creature hopped onto his lap.

He exhaled in surrender, patted the irritating creature on the head. It cooed at him, rubbed its shoulder against his hand.

"I'm going to have you and all your relatives killed," he told it softly, stroking its smooth back. "How does that make you feel?"

It chirped, rubbed against his hand.

"True, you'll probably be dead long before then. Maybe I will too. This job is just getting to be too much."

It waddled closer to him, rubbed its nose against his chest.

"And how am I supposed to find Revan? It's not like we were able to put any sort of tracking device on that ship."

The gizka cooed.

Saul sat up straighter, looked down at the creature in his hand.

"That's it. That's it! Revan clearly doesn't care about the gizka infestation. So wherever that ship lands, it'll be noticeable. Even if they change their transponder codes, a light ship with that design, overrun with gizka. It'll be memorable!"

He stood, dropping the gizka to the floor. It hopped away, unconcerned.

Saul crossed to the holotable, brought up the list of worlds Lord Malak considered high priority, then tried to remember which surviving officer had the job closest to what he needed. Finally deciding on one, he typed in the com channel and established a communication.

"Captain, I want bounties posted to the following worlds, for a light cruiser with a gizka infestation. The model and specifics of the ship are archived with bay ten. Information only, understand, I don't want Revan to know we're onto them."

"Understood," the captain said, snapping a salute.

"Carry on," Saul said, then closed the channel.

It was possible this would be a complete failure, but he had a good feeling about it. Most shipowners eliminated pest problems like gizka as soon as they could. The fact that Revan had allowed this one to grow so out of hand showed that the former Dark Lord didn't care at all about the infestation on the ship. The fact that it had spread so quickly through the _Leviathan_ showed that the number of gizka on board Revan's ship had to be well beyond normal.

This would work.

Soon, Lord Malak would once again have his former master in his clutches, and all because Revan never took care of a little problem with gizka.


End file.
